729. Bengana and Shanmehali Xaakor Khar

November 29, 2017mayurisjikoni

Assam – The Red River State

November is when the Shhh Cooking Secretly Group visited Assam. Assam is a state in the North East of India. Its strategic location makes it the ‘Gateway to the Seven Sister States of North East India’. Assam’s history goes way back to the ancient times, having been mentioned in the Mahabharata, was known as Asham during Aurangzeb’s time and the British developed the tea estates during the British Rule. Assam is well known for its flora and fauna and the famous tea estates. Assam itself has nearly 500 varieties of orchids. Its also known as the state of the Red River due to the presence of the Brahmaputra. Its a state rich in culture and traditions.
Coming to the Assamese Cuisine, Assamese are by and large non vegetarians. The staple food is rice. Their food is not too spicy or oily but is still rich in taste. They make use of naturally growing herbs and vegetables which is used in making fish and meat dishes. Most of the dishes prepared are served with a variety of rice. A lot of the dishes have khar added. Khar is prepared by burning banana stems or banana peels. It adds a distinct flavor to the dishes and is suppose to be soothing for the stomach.Most popular meat used is pigeon, duck, mutton, pork besides fish. Sweet dishes are usually made using rice called pitha. Assam is famous for Buth Jolokia or Ghost Pepper which is the hottest chili in the world.

With those ingredients at hand I made Bengana Shanmehali Xaakor Khar which is basically mixed herbs khar with Brinjals. As I was not able to get the original khar that is used in Assam, I had to substitute it some soda bicarbonate or baking soda. This vegetable preparation is basically a healthy dish, but the addition of the baking soda though in a tiny quantity added a unique taste to it. I think whenever I prepare it again, I’ll give baking soda or khar a skip. The main flavors for this dish are from the mixture of greens and mustard oil.

So lets get to the recipe. My recipe source is assamese cuisine.com which I cannot link at the moment as the site is temporarily suspended.